少儿圣经故事:约瑟的故事(3)/Story of Joseph(3)

??"Here's a strong young man who'll make a hardworking slave for someone! Who will give me a good price for him？"

??"I'll take him!" said an important looking man in the crowd.

??With that, Potiphar, an important officer for the King of Egypt, paid for Joseph and led him away. Joseph, the favorite son of his old father, sold by his brothers, was now in a land of strangers facing a life of misery 1 and slavery. Would he feel sorry for himself and complain？Do you suppose he refuse to obey？NO! Joseph did his work just as diligently 2 as if he were doing it for his own father. He worked hard and the Bible says that the Lord was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did!

??And you can believe Joseph's master noticed that! Potiphar could not help but appreciate the cheerful attitude of this Hebrew boy, his humble 3 and quiet way, his serious attention to his work. Soon, Joseph began to be promoted, then again, and again, until Potiphar finally turned over everything he had to Joseph's keeping. Potiphar saw God's hand on Joseph's life, because everything he gave Joseph to do brought a profit to Potiphar!

??But someone else was taking close notice of Joseph too. Joseph was now about 27 years old, and the Bible describe him as a handsome man. Potiphar's wife had an evil heart, and she began to try to get Joseph to notice her. She said things to him to try to get Joseph to sin against God.

??Really, boys and girls, all sin is against God. Sin is breaking God's laws. We sin by wanting what belongs to others. When we try to get others to do wrong, that is sin. Disobeying our parents is sin. Romans 3：l0 says "There is none righteous, no, not one." The truth is we were all born with sin. For those of who continue in that sin and do not believe in the Lord Jesus, there is an everlasting 4 punishment for that sin. Do you know what that punishment will be？Well it's said that we can never be in Heaven with God. How do you think God feels about that？You can be sure that is not what He wants for anyone!

??The Bible tells us that our l00% perfect God not only created this world and everyone in it, but He richly loves each person in it! God says it is not His will that any should perish, or be punished forever for their sin. So God made a wonderful plan that our sins could be forgiven and we could be SAVED from that dreadful punishment. God's plan was to send His perfect and darling Son the Lord Jesus Christ to take our punishment for us. Jesus left His splendid home in Heaven, to willingly come to this sin filled earth, willingly let wicked men nail His hands and feet to a cross, and willingly give His blood to pay for our sin. Can you understand that kind of unselfish love？No, but we can enjoy the wonderful blessing 5 of it! For after Jesus died, in 3 days He came alive again. He's in Heaven now and God says in Romans l0：l3, "For whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." By believing in Jesus the Lord, we can enjoy the wonderful blessing of being free from that punishment of sin.

??Remember, all sin is against God. What Potiphar's wife wanted Joseph to do would truly be a sin against God. She wanted him to be with her as only her husband should be with her. And she told Joseph so. She was probably a very pretty woman, and perhaps Joseph was very tempted 7 to do this wrong thing. After all, he was no doubt lonely. When everyone celebrated 8 holidays and birthdays with their family, Joseph had no one. And he was at an age when he would like to have a wife like other men. But Joseph knew he could not give in to temptation. He belonged to God! It was a hard decision, but Joseph said, "No! "

??II Timothy 2：22 tell us to run from evil desires. Ask God for strength to SAY NO to temptation, even though it may be hard! No doubt it was hard for Joseph, but he said NO to Potiphar's wife. The Bible says in Genesis 39：8-9 that Joseph said, "Listen, my master trusts me so much he has committed all that he has to my hand, he doesn't even keep up with what I am doing. There is no one greater in this house than I am, and the only thing my master has kept from me is you because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God？"

??But boys and girls, this was an evil woman and she did not give up. If only Satan would just tempt 6 us once and when we said the first NO, he would run away and give up.

??But our enemy is not like that, and he was working day after day through this beautiful but evil woman to ruin Joseph. Joseph refused to listen to her, and no doubt tried to avoid her as much as possible.

??But one day Joseph had some work to do in Potiphar's house. None of the men of the house were there, only Potiphar's wife. Boys and girls, you can be sure she was ready to tempt Joseph. She took hold of Joseph's coat and begged him to be with her. Joseph did the right thing! He slipped right out of that coat and left it in her hands as he RAN out of that house! Sometimes the only way to get away from temptation is to RUN! Remember, if you are God's child, you can ask God for strength to SAY NO to temptation, and that may mean to use your legs to RUN!

??Joseph didn't just stand back, he ran completely out of the house! And there stood a very foolish looking Potiphar's wife, holding a man's coat! But oh, was she furious! Joseph had hurt her pride and she was angry. She decided 9 to get even with him. She called some of the other servants and told them a big lie about Joseph. The Bible doesn't say if they believed her or not, but anyway.... when Master Potiphar got home, she really had a big lie ready. "That Hebrew servant you brought in here came today and tried to attack me.

??But I screamed and he got so scared, he ran out and left his coat behind."

??God's Word says in Genesis 39：l9 and 20, "And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, that his anger was stirred up, and Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound." Boys and girls, slaves had neither right nor chance to defend themselves. So Joseph, though he was honorable and innocent, found himself in a dark, dirty dungeon 10, perhaps bound with chains about his feet and neck.

??What a reward for doing the right thing! Perhaps he might have felt that way. But to end this lesson, we must read Genesis 39：2l："But the LORD was with Joseph." What will happen to him？You will have to wait till next time to find out, but we do know the LORD was taking care of Joseph.

?“谁给我出一个好价？可以带走这个健壮的年轻人。他会是一个很能干的奴隶。”“我要了！”人群中有一个看起来很气派的人说。他叫波提乏，是埃及法老面前一个很重要的官。他把约瑟买了去。作为老父亲跟前最疼爱的儿子，约瑟被他的哥哥们卖到一个陌生的地方，他即将面对一个痛苦的奴隶生活，他会不会觉得自己很可怜而去抱怨呢？他有没有不愿意顺服这样的环境呢？没有！他工作非常的勤奋，就像是给自己的父亲工作一样。约瑟住在他主人埃及人的家中，圣经说神与约瑟同在，他就百事顺利。

??约瑟的主人注意到这些。波提乏很欣赏这个希伯来年轻人的爽快、谦逊、安静，以及他对工作的认真态度。很快的，约瑟就升迁了，然后又升迁。最后，波提乏把一切所有的都交在他手里。波提乏见神与约瑟同在，又见神使他交在约瑟手里所办的尽都顺利。

??可是，有一个人也在密切地注视着约瑟。约瑟这时大概二十七岁，圣经讲约瑟原来秀雅俊美。波提乏的妻子有一个恶毒的心肠。她开始想方设法让约瑟注意到她。她说话引诱约瑟，想让约瑟犯罪得罪神。

??小朋友们，真的是这样。所有的罪都是得罪神的。 罪就是违反了神的律法。

??我们想拿属于别人的东西是犯罪；我们想引诱别人作错的事情是犯罪；我们不听父母的话也是犯罪。罗马书第三章十节说：“没有义人，连一个也没有！”事实上，我们都是生在罪里。那些不相信主耶稣，继续活在罪里的，会有一个永远的惩罚。你知道那个惩罚是什么吗？就是我们永远不能在天上和神在一起。你能想像神的心里是什么滋味吗？ 你知道那不是神所愿意给每一个人的。

??圣经告诉我们，我们百分之百完美的神不仅创造了这个世界以及世界上每一个人，而且他也深深地爱着每一个人。神不愿意让任何一个人灭亡，或者因为罪的缘故受永远的惩罚。所以神有一个很奇妙的计划使我们的罪可以得到赦免，我们可以不受那永远的惩罚。神的计划就是送他那完美无暇疵的爱子，我们的主耶稣基督来，承担我们应受的惩罚。主耶稣基督离开他那在天上充满荣耀的家，情愿来到这充满罪恶的地上，情愿让坏人钉他的手和脚在十字架上，情愿流他的血来洗净我们的罪。你能够明白那种无私的爱吗？虽然不能，但我们可以享受他所带来的祝福。因为主耶稣死后第三天，他又复活了。他现在在天上。神在罗马书第十章十三节说：“凡求告主名的，就必得救。”我们相信主耶稣基督我们就可以享受那美好的祝福：就是脱离罪所带来的惩罚。

??记得吗？所有的罪都是得罪神的。波提乏的妻子想引诱约瑟作的是非常得罪神的事。她想让约瑟和她在一起，而实际上只有她的丈夫应该和她在一起。她也许是一个美貌的女子，甚至可能约瑟也被试探。毕竟，他很寂寞。当别人在和家里人欢度节日，庆祝生日的时候，约瑟却没有人来分享。而且他在这个年纪，应该是像其他人一样找一个妻子的时候。但是，约瑟知道他不能对试探让步。他是属于神的！这虽然是一件不容易的事，但约瑟对试探说“不。”提摩太后第二章廿二节说：“你要逃避少年的私欲。”虽然很难，我们可以向神求力量，来拒绝试探的引诱，对试探说不。”无疑的，虽然对约瑟很不容易，但他拒绝了波提乏妻子的引诱。圣经在创世记第三十九章八至九节说，约瑟不从，对他主人的妻说：“看哪，一切家务，我主人都不知道，他把所有的都交在我手里。在这家里没有比我大的，并且他没有留下一样不交给我，只留下了你，因为你是他的妻子。我怎能作这大恶，得罪神呢？”

??但是，波提乏的妻子是一个恶毒的妇人。她不死心。如果魔鬼撒但试探我们一次，我们说“不”，然后他就逃跑放弃吗？他才不是呢。魔鬼撒但在这个美貌又恶毒的妇人心里做工，使她天天和约瑟说，约瑟却不听从她，也不和她在一处。

??有一天，约瑟进波提乏的屋里去办事，家中人没有一个在那屋里，只有波提乏的妻子。她早已准备好要引诱约瑟。她拉住约瑟的衣裳，说：“你与我同寝吧！”约瑟从衣裳中趁势滑出来，把衣裳丢在妇人手里，跑到外边去了。有的时候唯一逃离试探的方法就是跑走。记住，如果你是神的孩子，你可以向神来求力量去拒绝试探，对试探说“不”。这就好像我们用腿来跑步一样。约瑟没有只是退后站在那里，他跑出来，跑到房子外边去了。波提乏的妻子拿着约瑟的衣裳，愚蠢地站在那里。她怒气冲冲。约瑟伤了她的骄傲，她非常生气。她决定要报复约瑟。她就叫了家里其他的人来，编了一通假话告诉他们。圣经没有提到这些人是否相信她的话。当主人波提乏回来的时候，她已经准备好了假话骗他。 她说，“你所带到我们这里的那希伯来仆人进来要戏弄我，我放声喊起来，他就把衣裳丢在我这里跑出去了。”

??圣经在创世记第三十九章第十九至廿节说：“约瑟的主人听见他妻子对他所说的话，说：“你的仆人如此如此待我”，他就生气，把约瑟下在监里，就是王的囚犯被囚的地方。那时候，奴隶没有权利也没有机会为自己辩解。虽然约瑟是正直清白的，他也只能在那黑暗肮脏的监牢里坐监。也许他的脚上和脖子上都有锁链。约瑟所做的是对的事情，难道这就是他的奖赏吗？约瑟大概也会有这样的念头。在这次故事的结尾，我们一定要读创世记第三十九章廿一节：但神与约瑟同在。还有什么事会发生在约瑟身上呢？你要等到下次才能了解。但我们知道，神一定会看顾约瑟。